San Diego Approached To Host 2024 Summer Olympics

San Diego has been encouraged by the United States Olympic Committee to submit a bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics

On paper, anywhere in California would be an ideal venue to host the Summer Games, as it has the infrastructure including venues and hotels to successfully host millions of visitors, plus the year-long warm weather.

San Diego is reputedly one of the most beautiful cities in California, with the jewel that is La Jolla close by and its sandy beaches. Los Angeles with all its glitz and glamour just a few hours drive away.

Vincent Mudd, chairman of San Diego’s Exploratory Committee, said about the city’s chances of making the short list of US cities selected to host the 2024 Summer Games, “We’re looking very, very good at 2024.”

San Diego is one of around 34 US cities approached by the US Olympic Committee to make a bid to host the Summer Games ten years from now.

Mudd and scores of others on the 2024 Olympic exploratory committee are working very hard to prove to the USOC that America’s Finest City is more than capable to organize and host the international event.

Speaking about their efforts to bring the Games to San Diego Mudd said:

“We’re already such an amazing destination city. We’ve hosted multiple bowl games. We’ve hosted a Super Bowl. We invented sports like the Triathlon and the Iron Man, and all these other things we actually already have venues that the public has already built.”

But it’s not an easy process. One of the first task at hands is to prove to the USOC that San Diego has at least 36 venues to hold events, plus the infrastructure and transportation.

“Sochi, as you know, had to build 41,000 hotel rooms because the Olympics requires 43,000 three-star and above hotels. San Diego has 46,000 three-star and above hotels.”

“If we can leverage investments people are already going to make, we don’t have to have the kind of bid that’s going to price us out of the market or bankrupt our city.”

Mudd thinks that transportation upgrades to what is already in existence can be done with taxpayers funds, as they would benefit San Diego long after 2024, so they wouldn’t have to use Olympic budget money.

“The Convention Center for example, we need a venue of 800,000 square feet for our media center and for gymnastics (…) the Convention Center works perfectly. When it’s expanded, it’s even better. That’s not money that goes toward the Olympic budget, that’s money that San Diego will hopefully already approve.”

San Diego is also home to the Olympic Training Center, Coronado, which has more than enough space for beach volleyball, and Mission Bay, Mudd says, is perfect for things like rowing and the Triathlon.

But don’t pencil the city in yet, San Diego currently doesn’t have a Mayor and Mudd says the USOC looks closely at local government stability. In April a “short list” will be announced.